Oral Answers to Questions

Eric Ollerenshaw Excerpts

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

The figure that the hon. Lady has cited is not an official statistic; it is a figure that was derived from a piece of work that excluded analysis of significant parts of the Budget. That is why it is not a figure that I am going to recognise. Furthermore, if we had not taken those decisions in the Budget to deal with the deficit, and if we had adopted Labour’s plans to deal with it, that would have hit women even harder than our proposals. Under Labour’s proposals, expenditure on debt interest would have been higher than the expenditure on crucial public services, which are of particular importance to women.

[Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)]

3. What discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on increasing recruitment to the civil service from black, Asian and other minority ethnic people.

[The Minister for Equalities (Lynne Featherstone)]

Black, Asian and other minority ethnic representation in the civil service has been increasing steadily, and is broadly representative of the economically active population. We are committed to attracting the best talent from the widest possible pool of candidates. They have been targeted, and successful efforts have been made to render the civil service and the fast stream more diverse. My Cabinet Office colleagues are examining the range of BAME internships run by the Departments, and I expect to have discussions with them on the matter in due course.

[Eric Ollerenshaw]

We all welcome the Government’s announced policy on internships for under-represented minorities. How much progress has been made on that vital policy so far?